Duanguqiang
01 · Historical Records
Duangguqiang had already formed no later than the mid-Qing dynasty. Dongping Lake is the remnant of the ancient Mount Liang marsh. The fisherfolk of the lake area made their living for generations by fishing, gathering water caltrops and carrying cargo by boat; the hazards of navigation were great, so there arose the custom of venerating the god of the river. The earliest singing of Duan'guqiang was embedded in this sacrificial ritual: the performer, carrying a duangu drum on his back, recited invocations and moved along between the bow of the boat and the shore, narrating and singing. From the late Qing and early Republican period Duan'guqiang moved out of the ritual altar into the yards of fishing villages and the temple fairs, becoming an entertainment at celebrations of a good harvest, weddings and birthdays. After the middle of the twentieth century, as the mode of production in the lake area changed, professional performers declined in number, and most of those who could sing were elderly fishermen.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
In the course of time its cultural function expanded: originally sung solely to venerate the god of the river, it gradually became an entertainment performed by fishermen to mark good harvests and to enliven wedding and birthday banquets. The form of performance is one or more singers holding a goatskin-headed duangu drum, striking it with a mallet and walking about as they sing. Its vocal melodies include [Seven-Syllable Rhyme], [Ten-Syllable Rhyme], [Inviting-the-Spirit Air] and [Seeing-off-the-Spirit Air] and others. Traditional repertoire pieces include "Wei Zheng Dreams of Beheading the Little White Dragon", "Zhang Xiang Fights over the Dowry" and "Liu Wenlong Takes the Imperial Exam". The duangu drum of Duan'guqiang is round and handled, with a goatskin head; in performance one hand grips the handle and the other strikes the head, and the player walks a circular track while beating out steps such as yuanchang and chuanhua. The principal vocal styles are [Seven-Syllable Rhyme] and [Ten-Syllable Rhyme], while [Inviting-the-Spirit Air] and [Seeing-off-the-Spirit Air] are used at the opening and closing of the ritual. Spoken passages use Dongping dialect for the most part, and the rhythm is governed by the drum beats, producing a singing manner in which the drum leads and the voice follows.
The river-god rite
Originally sung only for the river god, the genre is popularly called by that name and is embedded in the lake's ritual sequence.
The sheepskin drum and circle steps
One or more singers carry a round handled drum with sheepskin head, striking it as they walk and sing.
The principal tunes
Narrative rests on the seven- and ten-character tunes, with separate invitation and farewell tunes framing the rite.
Wei Zheng Slays the White Dragon in a Dream
One of the traditional pieces, drawn from the tale of the Tang emperor and the river dragon, alongside two other stock items.
Harvest, wedding and birthday performances
Its function widened from the river-god rite to entertaining at harvest feasts, weddings and birthday banquets.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Duan'guqiang is also called "duanggongqiang" or "duangongqiang"; it is a quyi genre popular around Dongping County, Shandong Province, and because it was performed early on within activities of "venerating the god of the river", the Dongping Lake area popularly calls it by that name. Duan'guqiang in the Dongping County area has as its core of transmission the lakeside townships of Daimiao, Yinshan and Bandiudian, and performance is habitually called "beating the duangu drum". Most performers are farmers who fish half the year and practise the art half the year; they form troupes and go from village to village in the slack farming season and between fishing runs, and a troupe commonly numbers three to five people, one of whom leads the singing while the rest beat the drum and join in the vocal lines. Singing may begin on the lake, at the bow of a boat or in the yard of a fishing village. The Dongping County Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Association is the project's protecting body; in recent years it has carried out rescue work by recording the oral accounts of old performers, forming a succession team, and going into schools to teach the singing.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Duanguqiang.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
It not only has distinctive aesthetic character but is also of great value for the study of folk custom. Since the late twentieth century Duan'guqiang has been very rarely performed, its transmission is in a worrying condition, and it urgently needs support and protection. The texts of Duan'guqiang preserve a large number of place names, fishing terminology and sacrificial formulae from the lake area — such as inviting the spirit, seeing off the spirit, opening the altar and closing the altar — and are of direct reference value for the study of the fisherfolk's belief organizations, guild customs and dialect vocabulary of Dongping Lake. At present only a handful of performers still know the complete ritual of venerating the god of the river, and far fewer members of the younger generation can preside over a whole performance on their own.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Yang Chengxing 05-2526
- Ding Lixin
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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